I ditched a few in the early days. Around Seattle all you had to have is some horsepower and head for any steep hills. The cops had 41 Plymouths and 30D Motorolas. Both under horsepowered and not too reliable.
I've mentioned it before, grew up in a smaller town and we kept track of how many sheriff's cars and city police cars were at the station and how many were rolling. This was early 90's and we grabbed old CB radios and would call out what streets, when we saw officers rolling or sitting. Coffee stop at the gas station with a cute girl could have them tied up for at least half hour. Best time to race was shift change. All the officers would be at the station for a while. A lot of the cops had old cars and a few raced at the track
Yep....on my or should say my buddies motorcycle first at 15 - his was a bigger bike than the 5 brake horse power rating we had at that age. Ran a time or two after on the bike before the cherries came on but knew he was after me. We had a helicopter that came into pursuit after it was radio'd in....got away twice on the M/C quick - you have to know where you going pretty quickly. Then it was onto my Studebaker tuck at 17.....not going fast but it always just looked like it needed to be pulled over. Never ran a front bumper on it as it didn't come with one - got pulled over one night because I didn't have a front license plate.....but took many a evasive action - mostly to the left..... turn left a few times.....
Kinda learned my lesson early in life. It was Friday afternoon my dad had the day off work. He said let’s go to town I was excited loved doing things with dad it was always special to have one on one time with him. At the time we had a 55 Chevy hardtop V8 was really a sharp looking car two tone blue and white ran good too. Im sure it was my dads first V8 powered car. Where we going I ask dad replied got to stop at work and pick up my check. Dad worked at the hospital in the maintenance department. So we pulled into the rear parking pull up to building just a single gray door. This was a new experience for me never been to work with my dad before. Parked the car right next to the building and walked right in. All kind of strange equipment in the shop that I never seen before and a smell that kinda reminded me of the garage at the gas station I like it. Well dad got his check and a couple guys my dad worked with said hi is that your boy that kind of small talk. All in all this is the best day ever sure beats being at home fighting with my brothers. Well out we go outside and my dad stops in his tracks. Where the hell is my car he looks around somebody stole my dam car. Back inside talked to his boss Floyd a good friend of dads. They call the police and report the car stolen soon a police car pulled up and get some info about the car. A few minutes later the police get a call on the radio they found the car its wrecked a few miles from the hospital. So the police head to wreck and we jump Floyd’s car and follow. There was two young guys who stole the car when dad pulled the keys from the car he didn’t put it in the lock position so it was easy for them to get it started. When we got to the accident the car ran off the road down a steep hill and plowed in the ground. There was two holes in the windshield with lots of blood all around. I was told that the boys were running at a high rate of speed lost control ran off the road and plowed into the ground. Both boys were in really bad shape that part wasn’t really talked about to much. The car was fairly new at the time and the insurance company had it fixed. But Dad said it wasn’t the same car after the accident and traded it for a new 58 Chevy 9 p***enger wagon. But anyway I decided early that running from the police wasn’t a good idea.
I only did it once. I was driving home from my girlfriends one night after a couple beers. I wasn’t drunk, but I was underage. Anyway I get into my neighborhood, and by tradition, I do a burnout. I pulled out onto a main road to head to my house a few blocks away and noticed a car pulled out a block up with no headlights on. I knew the town cops liked to take radar at that spot occasionally. I figured 99% sure I’m going to get followed or lit up if it is a cop, and I have a 1 block lead on him to start, and know my 455 Pontiac can outrun the local cops. So I stand on it. I was only 2 blocks from my house, so figured if I do a big loop with a lot of straitaways I’ll keep gaining distance between us. YUP, it was a cop as he hit his lights a few blocks later. So I do my big loop, like 5 blocks, by 5. ,by five. At this point I had a four block lead on him. I lived on a corner. I drifted sideways coming around our corner and drifted perfectly into the culvert in our front yard. No time to pull in the driveway. I jumped out of the car, and could hear his little early 80’s cop engine coming. No time to make it to the house, so I stood behind a small pine tree in our front yard as the cop flew past the house. I then sprinted to the back door to safely get inside, or so I thought. I walk into the living room and my dad is standing there. He said he saw the whole thing and wanted details. I gave him a modified version, minus the burnout and having had a few beers. I told him the cop didn’t hit his lights till a few blocks away from the house too. He just kind of said-OK. I kind of think he got a kick out of some of the crazy **** I did, as he was so uptight and boring. Anyway I went out about an hour later to move my car into the driveway, and there was a cop car sitting about a half block up, with no lights on. He never did anything, just sat there, as I don’t think he ever got close enough to make a positive ID on me. I just calmly pulled into the driveway and walked into the house. I just remembered a second time, as I was typing this. A story for another day.
Maybe, but I'm still not talking about it. If the cop are behind me now and seem like they want to chat I just pull over and wait for them. If the red and blue are flashing the only pedal I'm stepping on is the brake.
My best friends dad Chief of police. Another good friend’s dadCaptain of detectives and his brother patrol officer (I bought his bb el Camino) His 2 cousins patrol officer. 3 neighbors patrol officers. My little league coach a Seargent. Next town over cousin police chief. My uncle and his friend both seargents. 5 of my friends patrolmen. NO Way In Hell I’m Gona Run! They’d all kill me. Did have some good and bad times hanging around the cop shops though. Did have to kiss pavement on 2 separate occasions though.
The author Kurt Vonnegut wrote: "In the early days before radios, if you had a better car, and were a better driver than the cops, you could get away - talk about an egalitarian society!"
Times have changed since the olden days. Way back then, where I was living, and in most other places I believe, after 6PM things were pretty quiet on the streets. Folks went home after work and stayed there, except Friday night when businesses were open til 9pm. There were no civic centers or similar places to hang out beyond a drive-in restaurant or two. It seems to me what little evening traffic there was consisted of a higher than usual number of teen agers. There also was virtually no crime and the cops probably had it pretty easy on night shift. Most of the guys who were out driving around were farm kids or others who had been driving something or other for years and the skill level was probably higher on average then than now, at least in areas where much of the later population explosion came from new citizens, many of whom, again in my area, had wealthy parents who were not averse to buying them a $100grand plus supercar as their first ride. Then they would race each other from one gambling establishment to another [if they made it] The carnage from such latter day stupidity is inexcusable. So, anyway, the occasional situation that erupted, back in the olden days, where there was a police pursuit was on empty roads and usually out in the sticks and over quickly and the chances of innocents being injured was small. Those conditions have p***ed into history in most places.
I wasn't running from the law but chose the wrong night to make a fast run between towns back to my apartment after work. I'd left work the same time as my ex step brother and some other guys and after they blew past me on the road I kicked my car in the **** and took off down the road and I guess they tried to keep up for a while. I got a few miles down the road and some lights were coming up behind me fast and I romped on it again and when I cleared a rise about a mile from town I spotted a big road block up ahead started slowing down and saw the car behind me had his red and blue lights lit up the so I just pulled over and waited until he got there rather than going up to the road block. Come to find out some guy had escaped from the Walla Walla state pen, had stolen a blue and white 55 Chevy and was headed to the same town I was, Probably my other Ex step brother but I never found that out. It cost me 75.00 that go around and that was a lot of money in those days. I had a blue and white 55 Buick though. The last time I decided to outrun a car coming up behind me fast.
Back in the early 1970's I had a black 39' Ford De Luxe coupe with a modified 327ci. SMC. I was with my wife and we were exceeding the speed limit big time. Next thing I know there is a State Trooper lit up coming after me. This was before the Baltimore Belt Way extension into Es*** (north east end of Baltimore) was opened to hookup with the rest of the beltway, but it was paved and late night "test track" for street racers till it was finished. Well the trooper was on my *** but I had distance on him, so I pulled a hard right and hid a**** the construction equipment that was staged there. He came roaring on to the new road and almost turned his car over making the turn and went off I'm sure wondering where the **** I went. She and I sat there laughing so hard she peed in her jeans. We kept singing Thunder Road on the way home. Robert Mitchum has always been my hero and I'm sure he would have been proud of me that day!
Yes outran the cops on bikes several times years ago... Intimidating the police story.......1971, Nutley NJ police station was located in a building with a long sidewalk from the road. During a shift change when the police cars were parked in front, I backed my 69 Dodge Super B down the side walk to the station front door. Reved the engine, popped the clutch leaving two strips all the way to the road...
In high school my friend John had a 1973 Chevelle. Very nice stock 307 car that he put Cragar S/S wheels on. John was always a careful driver and never got into trouble. But then the police started har***ing him, claiming that he had been seen speeding, doing burnouts, ect, accusations that he always denied. One day the police showed up at his house and spoke with his father about John having been reported for reckless driving earlier in the day. His father brought the officer out to the garage to show him the Chevelle, where it had been put on blocks and under a car cover for the winter a couple weeks prior. Turned out there was a guy with an identical car who was always raising hell and always managed to get away, with John getting the blame.
Hello, On many different times, we were lucky at our home court of Cherry Avenue. It was a place well known to the local police and over the many eras of the teen generations that frequented the drive-in culture, it was “the” place. But, for some reason, of the many times we used the location to test our cars, it was only a handful of times that we actually had to hide near our friends’ houses to get away from the local police. Luck or fate, it someone was looking out for us or we knew where to go to hide. The place was famous well before we got to be teenagers. My brother’s group before us had their day at the same place. The famous insights of the cl***es before them in the early 50s is legendary with the drag racing teens that made their mark at Lion’s Dragstrip. The drag racing lore was always a part of the scene for us. Afterwards, it was just a part of history and those cl***es that came after us had their own stories and local lore. Cherry Avenue is a mile long straight away with empty spaces on both sides from the starting line to the end. At the starting line and for the first 1/2 mile, it was all cemetery property on both sides. After the ½ mile, there were three exits into the neighborhood. No one went to the end at the cross street of East Carson St. That was a major intersection and by the half way mark, the contests were over, anyway. These days, the cemeteries are still the major land usage, but there are storefronts at either end. It was a good, out of the way, location that actually did not disturb those still alive and kicking. Some of our friends lived in the residential section near the ¾ mark. By then, everyone was either slowing down or getting ready to make a U-turn and head back to the starting line. Those homes allowed us to know where to go to hide. The local police knew the patrolling areas of the neighborhood, but they did not know all of the little hiding places that were around. Jnaki After several of our contests down the avenue, we did see the local police heading the other way and they could not make a U-turn until the major intersection beyond the starting line. So, that was a good sign to turn into the neighborhood and find one of our many spots that were hidden from the cruising black and whites. No one we knew, ever got caught parking at the starting line as spectators. By the time the local police arrived, the contestants were gone and it was just a place to hang out in the dark. Teenagers, what a concept to hang out in the dark. There was no evidence of any drag race back there. After several high powered runs, we saw several black and whites patrolling the area, so that was it for the week. There will be time for other activities on another day/night. No one got arrested or cars confi****ed. It was a teenage thing to get a warning and then drive off back to the drive-in hangouts to talk about the events that just took place. The excitement of running a high power contest, winning and then knowing you had to hide was just part of the situation. But, those low hanging trees, curved Cul-de-sacs and other view hindering places were in that neighborhood. It was good that we knew our friends’ houses and the location of those hideaway spots. The 1958 black Chevy Impala was a good car to have as it held its own on every encounter as well as melding into the night, with the 3 speed and then it was no contest when we got the C&O Stick Hydro. Teenage escapades... couldn't live without it... YRMV
I had always had respect for the law and law enforcement as a kid and as a teen and then I became L.E. The radio is faster then Superman. Go ahead and run. You'll only go to jail tired...
My first was in 1974, I was 19 and was driving a '64 Ford with the sloppiest power steering. It was maybe 1 AM I was coming home from a bar outing and bounced the car off a curb as a cop was going by the other way. He has to go a 1/4 mile before he can follow me. I beat feets into an apartment complex... parked the car and hid under a pine tree. I saw the cop go through the lot twice, he never turned down where I was. I fell asleep for maybe an hour, got up and took the back roads home slowly. The next was my brother a year later who borrowed my '67 Impala SS with a hot 327 in it. It was his senior cl*** picnic and booze was involved. He gets chased and loses the cop. Of course they never forgot that car. The last was the same car, coming home late at night after a date. I had a cut off switch for my brake lights. I turn down my parent's block and see a cop car fall in behind me with the lights on. I kill all my lights and make for the end of the block and hang a left. The house was on a corner and had 2 driveways. I pull in the back one, lock up the car and watch from behind the garage. The cop goes by slow... then there are 2 cop cars going back and forth. They never looked up the side driveway. I had to sell the car after that. The guy I sold it to got pulled over a few times before they realized he just bought the car. I had warned him up front before he bought it.
Growing up in a small rural community where everybody knew everybody, including the vehicle you drove, there was no out running the local law enforcement. Because if you tried he'd just be at your house waiting on you the next day or the next time that he saw you. If you stopped most times he was pretty cool with everything. But if you didn't you wish that you had.
Not really a running from cops story but I had kind of a routine for a while when coming home from girlfriends house (married 42 years). Almost always after midnight, I'd come down the hill on 1st street and stop for a railroad crossing that was rougher than hell, roll across it gently, then light it up through first gear. One night, no idea why, I didn't light it up after the tracks, get down to the intersection 2 blocks down and there's a cop sitting in the closed gas station on the corner. I make my right turn, cop pulls out and goes different direction. To this day I've wondered if he was waiting for me or it was just coincidence.
I'm pretty sure most of us wouldn't today, no. I got the impression that "youthful indiscretions" were considered understandable if not .. adviseable. It was kinda fun, actually. Not anything illegal, just giving ole Sparky the slip, ya know what I'm sayin'?
I have in the distant past. And that's why I have to remember, when I get pissed off seeing young hooligans bombing around, that it was once me.
I'm another one of the small town crew... it did no good to run from the local police, as they knew your family and where you lived. In my case the truck I drove was also distinguishable, so I could not "hide" it anywhere. The smartest thing my group of friends did was to befriend the police in the local towns we hung out in. At the time there was usually a chief and maybe a deputy in each town, so we would just make sure they knew us well. It saved me from quite a few unfortunate moments in my teen years.
Yea, having two teenage boys in the house right now, I am just thankful they don’t act the same idiot I was at their age. So, when they do something that might be considered not the smartest, I am likely a little more sympathetic than some might be. Although I appeared a fairly good kid to most since my stupidly didn’t end in arrest or worse, I am pretty sure God was just keeping me safe and out of more trouble than I should have been. I couldn’t see it then, but looking back a felony (for more reasons that I would like to admit) would have kept me from ever adopting my four kids I now have.
there was about 100 lessons learned that night . drinking anddriving one of them. Respect of the law Not giving into peer pressure And a ton more . Never was a bad kid but definitely a **** disturber. After this incident at 17 I learned real quick to accept the consequences of my actions .
Drag racing in the late night early morning hours on deserted roads. Hiding from cops in a cornfield after losing them long enough to do so. T intersection, I went left, he went straight. I doubled back and he was OK and climbing back up the hill. Many more and the talk is done now.
Back in high school I had a big Saturday night planed (wash the car at the car wash and McDonald’s for dinner). The car was running really well so I had to stand on it hard, about a 100 mph I p***ed a cop sitting on a side street, oh no. The cop pulled out to get me (no lights yet), so I stayed on the gas. At the crest of a hill was park and a car was pulling out, but saw me coming fast so he waited for me and I took a right. Just as the cop crested the hill the other car was in the middle of the road, and the red lights come on, he pulls over the other car. I head home fast and get the car in the garage, stayed home the rest off the night.
Going to pick up my future bride one afternoon and got running behind a Camaro in my 69 SS Nova. We were about 3 times the speed limit (it sounds impressive, speed limit was 25 in that part of the city...). Blew past a cruiser parked in a driveway. Out he blasts lights and siren. Catches us, because we both knew that we couldn't outrun his radio in that part of the city. When we stopped the Camaro was 1st, I'm 2nd, officer in back. If you got caught street racing, it was 7 days walking 1st offence. The officer takes his time getting out of the cruiser. He stops at my car and gets the license and registration. He walks up to the Camaro same thing. Walking back to the cruiser he stops at my car and asks "was your father the doctor? " He was and I answered yes sir, as respectfully as I could. He gets in the cruiser and is doing his thing, taking about 30 minutes. I'm thinking that I am screwed, what did he have against my father? BTW dad had died in 68, this was 79. So out of the cruiser he goes past my car and right to the Camaro. The other guy gets a pink ticket, a warning. And he sends the Camaro on his way. He takes his time getting back to my car, enough that the Camaro is out of sight. So now I'm waiting for the hammer to drop, when he tells me that my father who was an orthopedic surgeon had taken care of him when he was a young officer and had been in an accident and was pretty busted up. He recounted how he had never been able to pay my father, being young, just married and had a young baby. He let me go with just a verbal warning to never get caught in HIS city racing again, and that he figured he had just repaid his debt to the family. I agreed wholeheartedly, thanked him, and drove away below the speed limit. Thanks Dad!
Out ran the local cop in Forest Grove, Or when I was in high school in a '55 Ford. In his defense he used to nap in the cop shop after midnight and when he was asleep we removed his lug nutz and put the hub caps back on. We woke him with a major open header burnout and waited long enough for him to get in a take chase. He didn't make the corner and we pulled the ford in behind my merc and mrs ****** towed me to a barn in the country. In about 1980 there was a guy with a black Harley that out ran the cops on 101 enough times to become a local legend. He actually got radio recognition. Funny thing a car cannot split lanes like a bike. NOTE: on a thread like this the first liar never stands a chance.
The Jalopy Journal
